Sen. Chris Coons, Delaware Democrat, said Sunday he is open to packing the Supreme Court with additional justices if Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden wins the White House.
Mr. Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told CNN that he is “not a fan” of adding justices to the Supreme Court but that he will be open to the idea if Mr. Biden wins next month’s election.
“If we happen to be in a fact pattern where we have a President Biden, we’ll have to look at what the right steps are to rebalance our federal judiciary,” Mr. Coons said.
When pressed whether he would consider adding justices to the Supreme Court following a victory by Mr. Biden, Mr. Coons answered “yes.”
Court packing refers to the practice of adding judges or justices to a court.
Before the latest battle over Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court, the 2020 Democratic Party platform called for adding “new federal district and circuit judgeships consistent with recommendations from the Judicial Conference” as a way to push back against judges appointed by President Trump.
Mr. Coons said he believes Judge Barrett is “extreme” and “unqualified” and voters should hold Republicans responsible for allegedly rushing her nomination.
Mr. Biden has said that he is “not a fan” of court packing and that he will declare before the election whether he would support such as president.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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